Also certified were: Carol Dell Acqua, Phil Marzullo and Linda Silverman, all of Maintex Inc.; Dave Herren and Scott Hoskins, both of Coastwide Laboratories; Henry Babol of Colgate-Palmolive; Robert Hurd of Opportunity Village; and John Reed of Betco Corp.

Schneider, who has 15 years’ experience in marketing engineered products and consumer goods, will join Intellibot later this summer, when the manufacturer of floor care robots opens a new headquarters near Pittsburgh.

AFFLINK hires business development managerAFFLINK, a JanSan distributor/supplier group based in Tuscaloosa, AL, has hired Lisa Dare as a business development manager.

Dare, who comes to AFFLINK from working in a similar position at HOSPECO-Tranzonic Co., will be working in the north central United States.

ABM Industries elects Fernandes to boardThe board of directors of national building service contractor ABM Industries Inc. has elected Anthony Fernandes to the board as an independent director.

Fernandes was an executive for 30 years with Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), a diversified energy corporation, and also was chairman, CEO and president of Philip Services Corp., an integrated metals recovery and industrial services company.

News

ISS buys Sanitors Denmark-based ISS Group will acquire Sanitors Inc., a major U.S. building service contractor with headquarters in San Antonio, TX, for an undisclosed price.

Sanitors, which has 10,000 employees and about $320 million in annual revenue, will be renamed ISS Facilities Services Inc. and remain under the leadership of founder Darrell Glover.

Some Pioneer shareholders have sued to stop the acquisition, which had been set to close later this year.

Private equity firm buys PQ Corp. PQ Corp. of Berwyn, PA, a 176-year-old company that makes chemicals used in detergents and hard-surface cleaners, has been acquired by the Carlyle Group for $1.5 billion.

PQ had been sold by descendants of founder Joseph Elkington to another private equity firm in 2005.

PQ had revenues of $708.6 million and profits of $14.16 million last year.

Ohio Soap has $10 million in annual revenue and about 100 employees; State Industrial has more than $100 million in sales and 1,200 employees.

ServiceMaster plans to rebrand after going private JanSan/pest control/lawn care franchisor ServiceMaster will be taken private this year, and will also launch a campaign to “re-establish ServiceMaster as a brand unto itself,” according to its chairman and CEO.

J. Patrick Spainhour said that the re-branding campaign will focus on ServiceMaster as a “family of service brands,” like Merry Maids, Terminix and TruGreen ChemLawn.

Spainhour also said that the pending $4.7 billion leveraged buyout by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice remains on schedule, with a shareholders’ vote set for June 28.

Gingrich to address ISSA convention The keynote speaker for ISSA/INTERCLEAN® 2007 in Orlando, FL, will be former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.

Gingrich will speak on “Living in the Age of Transformation” on Thursday, October 25, at 8:15 a.m.

In his talk, Gingrich will address the unique challenges and opportunities presented by the Information Age and worldwide marketplace.

After he resigned from the House, Gingrich set up the Gingrich Group, a communications and consulting firm specializing in transformational change issues. He is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, a news and political analyst for the Fox News Channel and a best-selling author.

Gingrich has also been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for President in 2008. As of press time, ISSA’s 2006 keynoter, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, is the leading contender for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination.

The JanSan industry’s largest trade show and convention will be held from October 23 to 26 in the Orange County Convention Center.

Clorox to launch new green cleaning line Oakland, CA-based JanSan manufacturer Clorox Co. is planning to come out with a new line of green cleaning products and to increase its international business.

As part of its Centennial Strategy, Clorox will launch the Green Works line and work to increase international sales from 15 percent to 20 percent of its total revenues in six years.

The company will also look to sell some divisions, like Brita water filters and Kingsford charcoal, if their bottom-line performance does not improve.

The 400,000-square-foot plant has two paper machines and six converting lines and produces more than 50,000 tons annually.

With the plant’s capacity to produce 100 percent recycled fiber with up to 100 percent post-consumer content, von Drehle is planning to produce and market a new line of environmentally friendly products.

Federal minimum wage will rise to $7.25 an hour In signing approving the Iraq War supplemental spending bill, President Bush also approved raising the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour over the next two years.

The federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour has been in effect for 10 years, but more than half the states have higher minimum wages.

The new law, which will raise the wage to $5.85 an hour in late July, to $6.55 an hour a year later, and to $7.25 an hour a year after that, will affect many building service contractors and in-house service providers, including those who pay more than $7.25 an hour now.

Palmer Co. Inc. notes centennial JanSan distributor Palmer Co. Inc. celebrated 100 years in business on June 19 with an open house at its Waukesha headquarters.

Palmer President Bill Hoffman said that the key to the firm’s longevity and success has been “hard work, forward thinking and definitely relationships.”

Palmer, which has been owned by the Hoffman family for 39 years, employs 50 people and has branch locations in Milwaukee and Crestwood, IL, outside Chicago.

SCA wins green recognition SCA, the Swedish-based parent of JanSan manufacturer SCA Tissue of North America, has been recognized as the second most environmentally friendly firm in the world.

The rating, based on SCA’s European operations, was developed by Ethical Investment Research Services of London and The Independent, a British newspaper.

SCA is the only paper company which received a top ranking, which was based on business practices, environmental initiatives, use of renewable energies and materials, and waste reduction and management.